How to plant asparagus?

Got some asparagus rhizomes this weekend. I have Mary Washington rhizomes. When watching videos on how to plant them I seemed to get different ideas.

How do you plant them and get them to grow back year after year?

Here are the main questions I seemed to get different answers to when watching the videos:

Do you bury the crown?

How deep do you cover the part of the asparagus plant you

How far apart do you plant each asparagus plant?

Do you spread the rhizomes out laterally or plant them all pointing downwards?

How did you guys plant yours?

I dig a hole as deep as the roots are long. In the middle of the hole, I made a hill. I spread the roots around the hill , with the crown resting on top of the hill. then cover up the hole. Only the top of the crown should be at ground level. I don't know where you are, but in zone 7, I mulch 2-4 inches this time of year. At least a foot apart.

Marianne Cicala wrote:I dig a hole as deep as the roots are long. In the middle of the hole, I made a hill. I spread the roots around the hill , with the crown resting on top of the hill. then cover up the hole. Only the top of the crown should be at ground level. I don't know where you are, but in zone 7, I mulch 2-4 inches this time of year. At least a foot apart.

Thanks! I'm in zone 8 and just read they should be planted in spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Well I have them now so maybe I can plant them now? So should the top of the crown be at ground level but not above ground level so that the crown will not be exposed to air?

guess I put a little more elbow grease into it than Marianne did
but I started with "GA red", a clay that makes concrete turn green with envy
so I did dig a hole the size of my planned bed and since on a slope the lower end knee, the upper end almost hip deep,
filled it with 2 yards of compost and 2 yards of old wood chips, shaped in humps a foot tall
and a foot and a half between hump #1 and hump #2 and #3 far enough off to have a trail between hump #2 and hump #3, for the 3 rows planned
sat my crowns onto the hump like octopuss, about a foot apart
and filled with more compost, decayed wood chips and old horse manure,
I filled to two or 3 inches above the top of the crown, the first rain will settle all the loose material some and you do not want the crown to peak out of the soil
the 1st year I let them grow without harvesting much, mulched with more old chips and manure in fall,
cut the foliage back when it turned yellow

Is this 'red clay' that substance that I've heard called "red death"? I've heard of it here in Texas, but never given such a forgiving name before.

Okay so I've read and watched a little more. Seems like I should dig a trench about 7 inches deep and 12 inches wide. Then make an "updside-down v-shaped" mound in the middle of the trench with the top of the V at about soil level. Then drape the asparagus over the top of the v-shaped mound and letting the rhizomes run downward to the bottom of the trench. Then put dirt over the asparagus until the crown is covered by about 3 inches of dirt.

I think the first year I'm supposed to let the fern develop and then wait until about the forth year for full harvesting.

Anyway I think that's how I'll plant them for now (unless I am convinced of a better way on this forum) cause it should keep them alive! Then if I learn a better way I can dig up and do a better job next year. Also learned maybe I should get a newer variety that is all male so they will produce better and not be devoting energy to reproducing.

Here is a video that really helped me:

It may be important to find out what zone that video is from. I have never put soil over the top of the crown; it's deep enough so that it is level with the soil (not sitting proud), then I mulch. rule of thumb is no harvest 1st year, harvest for 1 week second year, 2 weeks on their 3rd year and then go for it. Your results will not be as good, if you do not harvest for 4 years.

Marianne Cicala wrote:It may be important to find out what zone that video is from. I have never put soil over the top of the crown; it's deep enough so that it is level with the soil (not sitting proud), then I mulch. rule of thumb is no harvest 1st year, harvest for 1 week second year, 2 weeks on their 3rd year and then go for it. Your results will not be as good, if you do not harvest for 4 years.

You are in a colder hardiness zone than me in zone 8, seems I should not have to bury my crown more than you as long as I mulch too. I am in central Georgia and just finished watching a video by a guy in south georgia where the guy said to wait until after the last frost, dig a trench about 8-10 inches deep, put the crowns in facing upwards then covered with 2 inches of soil. Then he said as the asparagus grows he will add dirt until at soil level. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QPyPLrhAow#t=367.101

I've read about and watched many different methods on growing asparagus; didn't expect that. Probably just different climates like you hinted at.

Marianne Cicala wrote:... rule of thumb is no harvest 1st year, harvest for 1 week second year, 2 weeks on their 3rd year and then go for it. Your results will not be as good, if you do not harvest for 4 years.

does it not depend on how old the roots are, when you plant them?
you can get 1, 2 or 3 year old, depends on how much you are willing to pay

Benton, I am still in an asparagus-learning-phase
I put in one row each Marr Washington, purple Knight and purple gigant something
harvested little last year, to give them time to get established

Got them planted and thanks for the help! I'll enjoy cooked smilax tips while I wait for my asparagus to thrive!

Benton Lewis wrote:

Marianne Cicala wrote:It may be important to find out what zone that video is from.  I have never put soil over the top of the crown; it's deep enough so that it is level with the soil (not sitting proud), then I mulch.  rule of thumb is no harvest 1st year, harvest for 1 week second year, 2 weeks on their 3rd year and then go for it.  Your results will not be as good, if you do not harvest for 4 years.

You are in a colder hardiness zone than me in zone 8, seems I should not have to bury my crown more than you as long as I mulch too.  I am in central Georgia and just finished watching a video by a guy in south georgia where the guy said to wait until after the last frost, dig a trench about 8-10 inches deep, put the crowns in facing upwards then covered with 2 inches of soil.  Then he said as the asparagus grows he will add dirt until at soil level. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QPyPLrhAow#t=367.101

I've read about and watched many different methods on growing asparagus; didn't expect that.  Probably just different climates like you hinted at.

A local university extension has an explanation that sounds relevant to me. I'm in the North (4b), but they said depth of planting depends on the soil type. The 8-10 inches is for soil that will retain moisture better with the crown starting near surface level. With more sandy soil, dig in a few inches deeper and leave the mound lower so that the crowns start a few inches below the surface, then add the extra back after the ferns grow to surface level.

If you have existing plants, you can harvest the seeds. Each red berry holds a whole bunch of tiny black seeds. I did that last fall and planted them in a new bed I’d prepared (cardboard buried in old manure and compost ).
Just run a hoe in a line for a shallow groove and drop them in. Cover with about 1/4”. They started popping up not long after snow melt.

I also bought a big bag of seed and put them in this spring. All are small, but alive and growing. Seed is MUCH cheaper than buying crowns ~ and growing out from seed is exactly how they get those crowns to sell you. Just be patient and keep watering the bed. They’re slow to germinate.

Wild asparagus propagates just fine in nature via seed. I think birds grab thise red berries, and poop out the aeeds all over the place, too.

Asparagus is not for the impatient, but pays us back for years and years.